Two Grammatical Treatises, [19th century]

The first volume contains a modern copy of Abraham ibn Ezra’s grammatical work, Yesod Dikduk. The copy was penned by Simha Pinsker, the well-known nineteenth-century scholar, using the manuscript in St. Petersburg (Russian National Library Yevr. II 97-102). On the margins are readings from other sources. On fol. 17v, Pinsker writes that he copied from a manuscript dated 1297, with marginal variants on the basis of a manuscript written in 1450. On fol. 1v, Pinsker offers the solution to the riddle on fol. 2r.

The second volume is a modern copy of the grammatical work Maasei Efod, penned by Ber Goldberg, the nineteenth-century scholar and copyist. Goldberg began copying Maasei Efod in Oxford and completed it in Paris, 1854 (fol. [2r], col. 194). His marginal notes refer to other manuscripts and to the scholarly literature. In one note, Goldberg writes that he does not think that chapter 25 should be included, but leaves the decision to [Z]. Fraenkel and [A]. Jellinek. On the first leaf, he copied Hasdai ibn Shaprut’s letter to Joseph, King of the Khazars.

Sotheby’s is grateful to Menahem Schmelzer z”l and Benjamin Richler for cataloguing these manuscripts.

Provenance

Vol. 1: Solomon Halberstam (shelf no. 316)

Vol. 2: Solomon Halberstam (shelf no. 2)

Physical Description

Vol. 1: 17 leaves on paper, 8 ½ x 6 7/8 inches; 216 x 175 mm, written in black ink in a nineteenth-century Ashkenazi cursive script, catchwords, modern foliation in pencil; library stamp on first, second, and last leaves. Library buckram.

Vol. 2: 46 leaves on paper (one blank), 8 ¾ x 7 3/8 inches; 223 x 186 mm, written mostly in black ink in an Ashkenazi cursive script; a few leaves repaired on outer margin, scattered small stains, fore-edges dust-soiled, library stamp on first and last leaves. Contemporary marbled wrappers; worn.

Literature

Vol. 1: Hirschfeld (ms. no. 404); H. Hirschfeld, Literary History of Hebrew Grammarians and Lexicographers Accompanied by Unpublished Texts, (1926), pp. 72-73; published, using this manuscript, by N. Allony, (1984)

Vol. 2: Hirschfeld (ms. no. 405); H. Hirschfeld, Literary History of Hebrew Grammarians and Lexicographers Accompanied by Unpublished Texts, (1926), pp. 95-96, with an excerpt translated into English